How George Soros, the billionaire with powerful pals and a track record for helping to overthrow governments is now planning to halt Brexit

George Soros, 87, has pumped millions of pounds into supporting political causes around the world - and his latest mission is to keep Britain in the EU

By Hugo Gye

9th February 2018, 9:10 am

Updated: 9th February 2018, 1:53 pm

A RECLUSIVE billionaire with powerful friends, a track record for helping to topple governments and a wife half his age surely belongs in a Bond film.

But 87-year-old George Soros is no fictional oligarch, he’s very real - and he’s on a mission to halt Brexit.

Reuters

George Soros is married to Tamiko Bolton, who's 42 years younger than him

While many young Brits may have never even heard of the banker who made $1billion (£700million) betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in 1992, Soros may soon be the name on everyone’s lips.

For he has donated £400,000 to the pro-EU campaign group, Best For Britain, which has signed up a network of pro-EU MPs to lobby for a second referendum on Brexit.

The group is using social media to try and convince the public to change their minds on the EU, and will target politicians directly to force them to vote down the Government's Brexit deal in Parliament.

The tycoon is adamant that Britain must stay in the EU and willing to use his hefty war chest to make it happen.

INstagram

His son Alex is a pal of global celebrities and lives a playboy lifestyle

It was Soros that swung it

Big bucks and political manoeuvring are Soros’ speciality – he has spent hundreds of millions overthrowing repressive governments in his native Hungary, as well as Georgia and the Ukraine - and has ploughed billions into promoting political projects.

His Open Society Foundation (OSF), which promotes everything from human rights to democracy has a budget of $1billion and works in 100 countries.

He’s donated more cash to charity than almost anyone else in history - and eye-watering £23billion - but has also become a lightning rod for those who distrust the immense power he wields.

The Open Society Foundations insist they fund organisations that defend human rights and campaign for governments to be accountable to their people. They say they do not fund political parties or promote regime change.

Getty Images - Getty

Mr Soros with his friend Hillary Clinton, when she was running for President in 2008

Hero or hate figure?

While many laud his philanthropic adventures, his activism has also led to a massive backlash from those who claim Mr Soros is forcing his own views on the public.

He’s now a hate figure in countries such as Russia, Romania and his native Hungary - with the Hungarian PM basing his re-election campaign on a vow to eradicate Mr Soros' influence from the country.

Last year, he was accused of paying protesters to demonstrate against the Romanian government and was bizarrely even alleged to have paid dogs to take part in marches.

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Mr Soros in 2004, after a demonstrator covered him in glue

Atlantic ambitions

Soros has been testing his might across the Atlantic too, though with mixed success.

He spent at least $25million trying to stop the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 - even describing his efforts as "a matter of life and death" - though this was one battle Soros couldn’t swing, as Bush was re-elected.

It didn’t deter Soros, though, who continues to put money into US politics - he spent $9million backing Hillary Clinton’s fight against Trump in November 2016.

He had more luck campaigning for drug reform - he was a major funder of the recent successful bid to make weed legal in California.

Reuters

Scenes from a protest against Mr Soros, who is accused of meddling in European politics

British ties

While Soros lives on a vast estate outside New York, his interest in British politics goes back decades.

Born in Hungary in 1930, when the country was occupied by the Nazis, teenage George was ordered to hand out deportation notices.

Instead, he told the targets not to report to the authorities, and was eventually forced into hiding.

After the war he studied at the London School of Economics (working as a waiter at night to support himself) before entering the City as a fund manager and doing the $1billion Black Wednesday deal which made him famous.

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The fund manager meeting Jean-Claude Juncker in 2015

Time & Life Pictures - Getty

The banker made his fortune by betting against the pound

Family fortunes

More than 500 guests - including four presidents - watched as Soros tied the knot with his third wife, Tamiko Bolton, during the three-day celebration in 2013.

Bolton, a healthcare consultant - and 42 years his junior - follows in the footsteps of Annaliese Witschak, who he divorced in 1983 and Susan Weber Soros, who was his wife until 2005.

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Alex Soros with Kofi Annan, an ally of George

While Soros' pals are formidable in the world of politics, his son Alexander, 32, counts A-listers such as Usher and George Clooney among his friends.

The playboy and philanthropist - who is the son of George and his second wife - is famous for the lavish slumber parties with models he threw at "Camp Soros", a rented $72million estate in the Hamptons in 2016.